News
Valli & Valli’s Hardware Series Inspired by Love
Valli & Valli, in partnership with Milan-based designer Fabio Novembre, has launched a new collection of hardware inspired by love.The series includes door handle`, window handle, window handle with four-click-position movement, door knob, pull handle, hook, coat hook, escutcheon, privacy set, door key and furniture fitting.An architect and designer, Novembre is best known for his “narcissistic neo-baroque” style and avante-garde approach to furniture and interiors. For this series, Novembre began with an original, classically shaped door lever cylinder from which he gradually subtracted significant portions of material until the profile gradually gave way to a smooth heart shape. The Love…
38-Story Condo Tower Opens in Downtown Seattle
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorSeattle–Opus Northwest has opened Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue, the company’s newest condo high-rise, located in downtown Seattle. Residents will begin moving into the 38-story building next week. The project is about 95 percent sold. “There is some softness in the market, but it’s fairly stable” Tom Parsons, senior vice president and general manager of Opus Northwest, tells MHN. “But after our project opens, there will not be a new project opening here for nearly two years.”Located next to Pike Place Market, Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue is the first residential high-rise developed under the city’s new…
Renovation of Historic Apartments by UIP Is Underway
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–Urban Investment Partners of Washington, D.C. (UIP) has begun a $2.6 million renovation of The Biltmore, a 94-year-old apartment building that once housed luminaries such as President William Howard Taft and journalist Carl Bernstein. Located at 1940 Biltmore St., N.W., The Biltmore overlooks Rock Creek Park in Washington’s Kalorama Triangle neighborhood. It features 24 apartments on six levels. UIP has completed renovating five units and is now working on three more. The work is going on while the building remains occupied. “The Biltmore enjoys a central location in one of the most desirable residential…
Hudson Tea: Three Distinct Model Units Speak to Different Demographics at Toll Brothers’ Hoboken Condo
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorFor a slide show of this project see “Hudson Tea: Three Distinct Model Units.”Originally the Lipton Tea headquarters, Hudson Tea in Hoboken, NJ boasts 13-ft. ceilings with oversized picture windows, hardwood floors, marble bathrooms, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. “The ceiling height is not something that exists in many places at all on the [New] Jersey side,” notes Ben Jogodnik, division senior vice president, Toll Brothers City Living. That, coupled with the waterfront views of Manhattan and the desirability of redeveloped Hoboken, he believes, provides “something that’s really unparalleled.”“It [also] helps dramatically when you spend…
Montgomery County, Md. Launches First Workforce Housing Sponsored under New Local Legislation
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorRockville, Md.—The Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC), the Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) and the city of Rockville, Md. recently launched Montgomery County’s first workforce housing condominiums sponsored under the county’s new legislation. These condos are called the Village at King Farm, a 49-unit community in Rockville.“What we want to do here is give people an opportunity to have a stake in the future of Montgomery County,” Maryanne Dillon, director of real estate at HOC, tells MHN. “This is one of the highest-income counties in the country, which makes it out of reach for the…
Housing Agencies Praise Shaun Donovan’s Appointment as New HUD Secretary
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–President-Elect Barack Obama has appointed Shaun Donovan, New York City’s former commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), as the new secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Obama said Saturday that Donovan will play a key role in tackling the mortgage crisis and helping families stay in their homes.Donovan will bring “fresh thinking” to HUD, Obama said, pledging that his nominee will abandon “old ideology and outdated ideas” that have stymied some of the agency’s past efforts.”We can’t keep throwing money at the problem, hoping for a different result,” Obama…
Multi-Housing Executives Update: For Rent Media Solutions Promotes Terry Slattery to President, and Other Moves
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor Norfolk, Va.—Terry Slattery has been promoted to president of For Rent Media Solutions, a resource for searching apartments nationwide. In this position, Slattery will oversee all aspects of print, Internet, production and operations for the company’s publications and Websites, including ForRent.com, For Rent Magazine, Apartamentos Para Rentar, CorporateHousing.com and After 55 Housing and Resource Guide.Slattery has worked in the multifamily industry since 1993, when he joined For Rent Magazine as account executive. Since then, he has held the positions of national marketing director, vice president of marketing, and vice president of national sales and marketing.He…
TODAY’S DEALS: KeyBank Closes $29M in Loans for Three Senior Housing Properties, and Other Transactions
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor Bakersfield, Calif.—KeyBank Real Estate Capital has closed $29 million in Fannie Mae loans for three Pacifica Companies’ “Oakdale Heights” senior housing properties.KeyBank’s financing included $10.7 million for a 78-unit property in Bakersfield, Calif. (pictured), $9.3 million for an 86-unit community in Virginia Beach, Va., and $9 million for 87 units in Wilmington, N.C.Gebroe-Hammer Closes $8.7M Sale of 97-Unit N.J. Property South Bound Brook, N.J.—Gebroe-Hammer Assciates recently closed an $8,778,000 sale of Towne Oaks, a 97-unit community located in South Bound Brook, N.J.Joseph Brecher, senior vice president at Gebroe-Hammer, negotiated the sale on behalf of the…
U.S. Energy Group Launches Solar Power Initiative; Co-Op Used in Prototype
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorFresh Meadows, N.Y.–U.S. Energy Group, a firm that develops and integrates energy control, monitoring and analysis systems for large residential properties, has launched USE Solar, a new solar energy initiative that focuses on the potential for multifamily and commercial buildings to use solar power.U.S. Energy Group manufactures and monitors approximately 4,000 energy control systems. In addition, the company delivers emergency alerts to clients via text message, email or fax, explains Jerry Pindus, founder and CEO of U.S. Energy Group and president of TedPin Realty Co., an owner and operator of apartments and co-ops in the N.Y….
Housing Meeting Anticipates ‘Fresh Start’ Under Obama Administration
By Keat Foong, Executive EditorNew York—The New York Housing Conference (NYHC) and National Housing Conference’s (NHC) 35th Anniversary Awards Luncheon meeting this week evidenced a sense of anticipation in the affordable housing industry on the eve of an incoming Obama Administration. An experts’ briefing entitled “A Fresh Start? Affordable Housing in the Obama Administration—a National Perspective” was held before the luncheon. Conrad Egan, NHC president and CEO, said at the briefing that “we are already encouraged” by how quickly President-elect Barack Obama has moved in preparation for his incoming administration. Egan said the Government Sponsored Enterprises are now “GOEs”—Government Owned…